The echoes of the past are often haunting. No matter the memories it holds, there are almost always regrets. Moments we replay in our minds, wondering how life might look if we had made a different choice or spoken the words we left unsaid.

The Korean BL Always Meet Again leans directly into those regrets while reuniting actors Woo Ji Han and Shin Jeong You, who previously shared the screen in Breeze of Love. Woo Ji Han portrays Jang Hye Seong, a painter whose return to his old high school sparks an unexpected collision between past and present. Opposite him, Shin Jeong You plays Lee U Jin, the first love Hye Seong never truly left behind.

The story begins years after their youth has passed. Hye Seong visits Seongjin High School to give a lecture at the request of an old friend. While there, a moment in the school’s art room leads him to an old sketchbook, and on impulse, he redraws a portrait he once drew in the past. The moment the pencil leaves the page, the world around him changes in a flash of light, and Hye Seong finds himself back in 2008, standing once again in the halls of his teenage years and face to face with the boy he lost.

Armed with the knowledge of what once went wrong, Hye Seong tries to keep his distance, determined not to repeat the mistakes. But U Jin persistently refuses to let him stay on the sidelines.

Dramas and films about traveling back in time are hardly a new concept, especially ones about fixing a mistake or preventing a painful outcome. Still, when the emotional aspects are strong, it’s a theme that never really loses its power.

The first two episodes of Always Meet Again spend their time laying the emotional groundwork. They hint at a past romance that likely ended in tragedy before sending Jang Hye Seong back to the very place where everything once began with Lee U Jin.

Across its opening hour, the story leans heavily on nostalgia. Much of the tension comes from the collision between Hye Seong’s memories and the reality of the past unfolding differently around him. Not much happens outside of that framework in the early episodes, but the series carefully works in hints about what truly happened back then and how those events might change this time.

And in the midst of it all is the chemistry between the leads. Woo Ji Han and Jang Hye Seong’s well-acted performances and the quiet pull between them carries a lot of the narrative weight. There’s a natural ease when they share the screen, which makes it much more believable. Seeing them reunite after Breeze of Love is a pleasant surprise, and their dynamic already hints at a deeply compelling story.

For a series built around rediscovering a love that slipped through time, Always Meet Again offers a gentle but intriguing start.

I’m rooting for a happy ending for their sakes and ours.

For a nostalgic series that promises a love powerful enough to return to the past, check out Always Meet Again now streaming on iQIYI.

Rating- 4 out of 5